The Frequency

The Phenix City Board of Education voted unanimously Monday at a special-called meeting to buy the vacant Troy University riverfront campus for just under $10.8 million, financed with $10 million in school tax warrants. The board plans to use the building as its new central administrative and teaching facility. The purchase includes the existing furniture and technology.

The money passes through City Hall. On Sept. 16, the Phenix City Council gave final approval to buy the campus from Troy for $7.5 million and hand it straight to the school board. The board pays the city $10.25 million plus its current administrative property, which the city plans to convert for expanded city services. WTVM’s two reports carry different price figures, $10.25 million on Sept. 16 and just under $10.8 million on Sept. 29, and the coverage we reviewed does not reconcile them.

One step is on the calendar. The city’s Downtown Redevelopment Authority meets Thursday at 3 p.m. in Council Chambers, 1111 Broad Street, to deliberate on releasing a special covenant in the deed to the campus. The public notice does not say what the covenant requires. Officials expected the deal to close by the end of September.

Troy announced in March 2025 that it would close the campus, citing growing demand for online education, and set a closing date of Dec. 31, 2025. The university had served Phenix City for 50 years and opened the riverfront location in 2015. Assistant City Manager Chan Gamble said of the sale: “We’ve found a use for a large institution building that would have remained empty for some time.”

A university left the building. A school district is moving in.

The Lee County Commission approved its fiscal 2027 budget Monday at just under $80 million. It includes a 5% raise for county employees beginning in October, and commissioners said planned capital projects can be completed without borrowing money.

The same meeting authorized an application for a $320,000 state Rural Logging Efficiency Grant to replace bridge BIN3603 on Lee Road 194 in Commission District 4, south of U.S. 280. The grant would cover 80 percent of the cost, and the county would put up $80,000. The bridge carries a four-ton limit. County Engineer Justin Hardee said “even an empty log truck could not cross it,” which sends traffic serving “hundreds and hundreds of acres of timberland” onto alternate routes. “We do feel this is a competitive candidate for this program,” he said.

Commissioners approved Phase II of the River Rock subdivision, 23 lots on 41.7 acres, after stormwater and septic concerns were addressed, and tabled a Sumner subdivision for more stormwater review. They also awarded highway maintenance contracts to Ergon Asphalt & Emulsion, East Alabama Paving, Advanced Asphalt Products and Thompson Tractor Company. They rejected the sole bid from Martin Marietta Aggregates for maintenance stone and authorized negotiation instead.

The bridge is rated for four tons. An empty log truck still doesn’t clear it.

TikTok settled Alabama’s lawsuit over teen safety just before it was set to go to trial Monday in Montgomery state court. Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that TikTok will pay the state at least $100 million, a figure that could reach $300 million if 40 other state attorneys general adopt similar agreements. It is TikTok’s first state settlement over teen safety. “This is a great day for Alabama parents,” Marshall said.

The terms include a two-hour daily limit for teen users, overnight restrictions, stronger age verification, stronger parental controls, limits on how easily adults can find teen accounts, and parental notifications about suspicious adult-teen interactions. Alabama’s suit, filed last year, argued that TikTok’s algorithm steers young users toward violent and self-harm content and contributes to rising emergency room visits for self-harm among teens. At least 27 other states and Washington, D.C., have filed comparable suits.

Alabama teens and parents are not of one mind. Teen user Alizah Hairston told WBRC the limit should be longer: “maybe at least like four.” Parent Tevin Cunningham said it means “kids can focus more on being outside and getting involved in school.” The coverage we reviewed does not say when the changes take effect or how the state will spend the money.

Two hours is the limit. The $100 million has no posted plan.

Senate Bill 24 takes effect Oct. 1. It requires the Board of Pardons and Paroles to post, by March 1, 2027, an explanation of how a person who lost the right to vote because of a conviction can seek restoration, along with an online application for a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote. The board must review applications promptly and issue certificates when applicants meet the eligibility criteria already in state law. The bill passed with bipartisan support and was sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, according to the ACLU of Alabama.

The board must also publish online the Alabama Institutional Serial numbers of parolees and probationers whose rights have been restored, with their county of residence if provided. That is the searchable system WBRC described.

Aylia McKee-Stovall, Montgomery County’s chief public defender, supports the law: “Restoring the right to vote is a powerful piece of successful reentry. When you give people a voice in the community, you give them a stake in the community.” We found no public opposition in the coverage reviewed.

Voter registration for the Nov. 3 election closes Oct. 19. The March 1 deadline falls four months after Election Day.

The law starts Thursday. The website is due in March.

President Trump will hold a campaign rally Friday at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, in the 1st Congressional District, which Cook Political Report rates solidly Republican. The Alabama Reflector reports it comes amid Republican concerns about voter apathy. Trump won Alabama with nearly 65 percent of the vote in 2024. An Economist/YouGov poll cited by the Reflector finds him broadly unpopular statewide but still popular among 2024 voters and Republicans.

Turnout is the worry. The four congressional districts that held special primaries in August averaged about 5 percent, and Chambers County was not in any of them. Rep. Barry Moore, running for Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s seat with Trump’s backing, called the rally “the jet fuel we need to win big in Alabama.” An RNC spokesperson, Natalie Baldassarre, told PBS: “The President’s ability to engage with and activate low-propensity voters is unmatched.” Jerry Carl, the Republican nominee in District 1, said: “Let’s make this the best trip yet!”

Democrats see a different picture. Clyde Jones Jr., the Democratic nominee in District 1, said: “This administration has really done nothing to help the everyday person.” Viet Shelton of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said: “The political floor is falling out from underneath Trump and Congressional Republicans.”

Chambers County’s Nov. 3 ballot has the governor’s race between Tuberville and Doug Jones, the Senate seat Moore is seeking, and the House District 38 rematch between Kristin Nelson and Hazel Floyd, in a district that spans Chambers and Lee counties.

A rally measures the crowd in the room. November measures the ones who aren’t.